Life, the universe and nothing in particular.

Canon EF 100-400 F4.5-5.6L First Look

So my bank card is a little warmer and a lot less solid than it was an hour a go, my wallet is lighter and my backpack is heavier. That’s right, I bought my first L-series Canon lens… The (in)famous EF 100-400 f4.5-5.6L IS/USM.

First impressions: Wow, this thing is heavy. Bolted onto a monopod (Manfrotto 679B – after the Cheap Tripod Incident of Aught-Four I wouldn’t trust my kit to anything less), I expect it to be much easier to handle.

Image quality: Goes from “Wow that’s nice” at 400mm f5.6 to almost razor sharp at 400mm f8. Can’t see any significant CA on my 40D. IQ in general puts the famous 70-300 IS “Hidden L” to shame.

Conclusion: This thing is horrifically heavy, but should be nice for the Sunderland Airshow tomorrow afternoon. IS will be tremendously useful, especially at 400mm. I need to stop letting go of the lens while swapping and changing though, the 40D really dislikes having that much load put on the lens mount…

Depending on how well the airshow goes, this may well be a keeper… I only wish I’d bought it when it A) cost less, and B) was still covered by the Canon Cashback…